A Look at the Redhawks
Seattle University is 5-5 this season and opens Western Athletic Conference play coming off back-to-back home wins over Northern Illinois (75-48) and Campbell (72-49). SU is 4-3 at home this season and has scored 72 or more points in each of its last four contests at KeyArena. The Redhawks are shooting 40.4 percent overall and averaging 68.7 points per game, while allowing 70.3 points on 41.6 percent shooting. Seattle U is second in the WAC with 9.5 steals per game, but its 19.5 turnovers per game are also second-most in the conference. SU leads the WAC in rebounding at 43.2 per game and ranks third with a +7.9 rebounding margin. As a team, the Redhawks shoot just .599 from the free throw line.

Seattle U Head Coach Cameron Dollar
Cameron Dollar is 56-76 overall in his sixth year as a collegiate head coach and 45-54 at Seattle University. He’s in his fifth season at SU after leading the Redhawks to a 12-15 record last year. In 2009-10, SU became the first school to post a winning record (17-14) in its first season at the NCAA Division I level. Before SU, Dollar was an assistant at Washington for seven years, Saint Louis for three years and UC Irvine for one year. He was also the head coach for one season at Southern California College, where he posted an 11-22 record.

Idaho Vandals
Idaho jumped out to a double-digit first-half lead against Boise State on Thursday, Dec. 20, but the Broncos got hot in the second half and the Vandals couldn’t register the stops they needed to hang on to the lead. The loss slipped Idaho to 4-6 at the end of non-conference play. The Vandal men open Western Athletic Conference play with three straight away games, starting Saturday at Seattle U.

Vandals vs. Redhawks
Idaho and Seattle U were regular opponents in the 1960s, but played just three times between 1969 and 2009. That series renewed in 2009-10 and the teams have played a home-and-home series each of the last three years. SU holds a 14-12 overall edge in the series, including 12 consecutive wins from 1961-68. Idaho holds victories in seven of the last eight meetings, dating to Nov. 25, 1985. It’s been a series without too much drama (only six games decided by five points or fewer), but the 70-69 Vandal win in the most recent meeting came down to a missed free-throw-line jumper on Seattle U’s final possession. Idaho shot .551 from the floor in a 73-62 win over SU last time the Vandals visited KeyArena on Dec. 11, 2011.

Passing a Legend
Senior center Kyle Barone scored 24 points on Dec. 20 against Boise State and in doing so, passed Vandal legend Gary Simmons for 11th on Idaho’s career scoring list at 1,072 points. Simmons is the shortest player on Idaho’s 1,000-point scoring list, while Barone is trying to become the highest-scoring post player at Idaho. Simmons played at Idaho from 1955-58 and was a 1958 All-American after leading the Pacific Coast Conference in scoring (20.4/gm). His No. 6 jersey was retired at Idaho in 1999.

WAC Openers
Idaho is 2-2 in WAC openers under head coach Don Verlin. The team is 2-5 overall in WAC openers since joining the league in the 2008-09 season and is 17-32 in conference openers since 1963-64, when the team was a part of the Big Sky Conference. Idaho was a member of the Pacific Coast Conference from 1921-59, but dates are not available for many seasons.

No Second Chances
Idaho leads the NCAA with a 76.9 defensive rebounding percentage (the Vandals rebound 76.9 percent of their opponents’ misses). Opponents average just 7.9 offensive boards and 7.6 second-chance points per game against Idaho. The team’s +8.1 rebounding margin ranks second in the WAC and 25th in the NCAA so far this year.

Hands Off!
Idaho hasn’t had a shot blocked in its last two-plus games. The Vandals have taken 111 consecutive shots without getting an attempt blocked. Three times this year, Idaho has played a full game without an opponent blocking a single shot.